The First Foray in the Run

Thanks to our dedicated, former Navy pilot neighbor, our run is finished! One afternoon he brought over the door because "he needed an indoor project." It was so unbelievably nice of him to help us with this part of the construction. And I think this was the worst part (see my Grave Digger post...).

Just for your information, our run is 10' x 20', allowing 10 square feet per bird outside. We have hardware cloth sunk in the ground, 1' down and 2' in. On top of that is dirt, and then play sand. And then about 35 bags of pea gravel (courtesy of Home Depot) to cover the area. We also have a large plastic tub for dirt baths that I intend to sink.

The chickens, which are growing faster than we can build, LOVED being outside. I tote them in a large plastic storage container from the garage to the run and then release them. August is thrilled to be able to run after them and pick them up on his own. (Note: He did drop one of the Orpingtons and injure her foot... perhaps a bit more supervision on my part would have been better).



The dog is also thrilled (as you can see). He is exhausted running after them.



You can start to see the personalities of the hens as they interact with you. The Orpingtons are so curious and almost like dogs - they'll come right up and climb on you.



The Rhode Island Red are also very brave and inquisitive... and they're a week younger.



I can't wait until they're outside for good!